Caladiums [Caladium hortulanum Birdsey, Araceae Juss.] are ornamental aroids valued for their bright colorful leaves and commonly used as container and landscape plants. Pink cultivars have been very popular, particularly ‘Carolyn Whorton’, ‘Fannie Munson’, and ‘White Queen’ (Bell et al., Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc., 111:32-34, 1998; Deng et al., Univ. of Fla./IFAS extension fact sheet, ENH 1007, 16 Jul. 2010), which have recently been found to be susceptible to Pythium root rot and Fusarium tuber rot, the two most important fungal diseases in Caladium tuber production (Deng et al., HortScience, 40:549-552, 2005; Goktepe et al., HortScience, 42:1135-1139, 2007). Thus, the development of new pink cultivars has become an important breeding objective in a Caladium breeding program.
The invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Caladium hortulanum plant named ‘UF-172’. ‘UF-172’ originated from a cross made in 2003 between ‘White Christmas’ (female parent, unpatented) and ‘Red Flash’ (male parent, unpatented). ‘Red Flash’ was selected because of its plant vigor, excellent performance in large containers and landscapes, large tubers, large plant, large leaves, and tolerance to sunburns. ‘White Christmas’ was selected for its large leaves, white coloration patterns (large white blotches), and desirable growth habit. The ancestry of ‘White Christmas’ and ‘Red Flash’ is unknown. ‘UF-172’ was discovered and selected in 2004 as a single plant (GCREC-3141) within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination. Asexual propagation was performed by tubers and tuber division, and evaluation in field and pot studies in Wimauma, Fla. since 2004 have shown that the unique features of ‘UF-172’ are stable and ‘UF-172’ reproduces true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation.
Plant Breeder's Rights for this cultivar have not been applied for. ‘UF-172’ has not been made publicly available more than one year prior to the filing of this application.